Bengals Reportedly Considered Benching T.O. Prior to Knee Injury

Wide receiver Terrell Owens ended his season in about the most fitting fashion possible: catchless. Actually, T.O. was playing well for the Bengals who had lost 10 in a row before beating the Browns Sunday, but his mouth apparently was becoming a problem in Cincinnati. You telling me coaches and organizations don’t enjoy being called terrible by their players? There’s a shocker.

Anyway, Owens left Cincinnati’s game Sunday during the team’s first possession after hurting his knee. It’s quite a downer for T.O. given the way his season had been going — he had 72 catches, 983 yards, and nine touchdowns — strong numbers for any receiver, regardless of team and age. Owens even went through a five-game stretch where he scored at least one touchdown.

But before the knee injury even arose, Pro Football Talk reported that the Bengals were considering deactivating Terrell for the final three games of the season. Cincinnati had lost 10 in a row with him in the lineup, so as long as he was ripping the organization what did they have to lose? The knee injury went ahead and fixed the glitch, but the latest report is detrimental to T.O.’s future.

Owens was lucky the Bengals took a chance on him this year. Though he played well and the rest of the team stunk, he regained his reputation as a locker room disturbance. What team will want him now, especially since he’s returning from knee surgery? It may be the end of the road for The Player, and it’s quite an ignominious exit for T.O.